Congrats to Sharon Rizzo, who won Cleo Coyle's new Haunted Bookshop Mystery, The Ghost and the Bogus Bestseller, and her new Coffeehouse Mystery, Shot in the Dark along with Cleo's holiday prize package!

Congrats to Bernice K, Jaime M, Karen B, Tiffany S, and Vickie "la", who won a copy of For Cheddar or Worse by Avery Aames aka Daryl Wood Gerber. And there's one more winner if she can give me a good email. "Sweet" Jane...contact me.

Congrats to Kara Marks who won a copy of Steamed Open by Barbara Ross, and also to Kathleen Kendler who won One Taste Too Many by Debra Goldstein!

Congrats to Kay Bennett, winner of the Around the Kitchen Table collection of books by Daryl, Leslie, Krista, Cleo, Sheila and Linda.

Congrats to Faith, winner of As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz and a set of Christmas cookie cutters.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Got leftovers? Here's a great use for them.It takes only 10 minutes to assemble these quickand easy pastry pockets. Slip them in the oven and you've got a fast, hot lunch or tasty snack.

Many cultures have some form of pastry pocket or another in their culinary heritage from the Cornish pasty to the Spanish empanada and Haitian Creole pate. This is my favorite way to make a pastry pocket fast. The folks at Pillsbury invented it, and I'm using their buttermilk "Grands" large refrigerator biscuits for the recipe today. You can use any brand, but these are very good. Marc, my husband (and partner in crime-writing) also likes their "Southern Style" Grands.As for your fillings, they can be a combination of almost any type of leftovers. After this busy holiday week, I suspect many of you have them!

Scratch Pastry? We've got that...

If you prefer to make your own pie crust from scratch, then check out my recipe for Blueberry Hand Pies by clicking here. I use yogurt in my hand pie crust for a nice flavor. The dough is also sturdy enough to hold up to being stuffed and baked. One note: if you're using this recipe for a savory filling, like today's ham and cheese, simply leave out that little bit of sugar in my ingredient list.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to open the fridge and find those leftovers...

To download a free PDF document of this recipe that you can print, save, or share, click here.

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Next dice up your ham and shred some sharp cheddar cheese. (Marc and I like sharp because it stands up to the ham and brings lots of flavor.)

2. Lightly coat a length of aluminum foil with a non-stick cooking spray. In my photo, you see Pam, but any neutral-tasting spray will work fine.

3. Open your can of large refrigerator biscuits. In my recipe today I'm using Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk biscuits (8 large biscuits in each container).

4. Tease apart each large, thick biscuit into two thin layers. Each layer will serve as a dough disc to flatten and fill. (In other words, 8 large biscuits will give you 16 pastry pockets.)

5. Use a juice glass to roll out the biscuit layers into flat, even circles. (No rolling pin needed, huzzah!)

6. Place a small dab of mustard in the center of each dough circle. Use the back of a spoon to spread it evenly over the entire surface, as shown below.

Marc and I like deli mustard for our pastry pockets (our favorite brand is whole grained Boar's Head). You might prefer honey mustard or a Dijon mustard. If you don't like mustard on your ham and cheese, use a condiment you do like or just go naked.